Yesterday afternoon, my two year old and I scrubbed the kitchen and dining room floors. I set out to do it myself while the baby was napping, but Linnea was immediately interested in my bucket of soapy water and my sponge—sometimes, I think it works better to do it by hand rather than with a mop—and she insisted on helping. Rather than watching a video! Much to my surprise, she was actually helpful, and she had so much fun that I finally had to make her stop so the floor could dry.
Strangely enough, I rather enjoyed the scrubbing, too. Something about her enthusiasm made me realize that it wasn’t such a bad task. It didn’t take all that long, the results were obvious, and I felt satisfied after our efforts. It didn’t hurt that Linnea was singing at the top of her lungs, “We’re cleaning the floor! Cleeeeaaan-ing the floor!”
This got me thinking about how we decide what is fun. I am eager to head out for a run on Saturday and Sunday mornings, whereas many people see running as a form of punishment. There are plenty of supposedly fun things that I would avoid like the plague. You’re not going to see me skydiving, riding in a hot-air balloon, or SCUBA diving. I’m not a thrill seeker. You’re also not going to see me knitting a scarf. I simply don’t have the patience.
So what is it that makes us decide what is fun? I’m interested in the idea of re-training my brain to see dreaded household tasks as more enjoyable. I can’t say that I see myself jumping up and down about scrubbing toilets, but maybe I can trick myself into doing it with less sighing and muttering.
*****
I Want to Know
Are there any household chores that you think are really fun?
Do you think it’s possible to trick ourselves into enjoying dreaded tasks more?
Do you think it’s possible that Linnea will still want to scrub the floor at age 12?
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LOL – love the last Q – will Linnea want to scrub the floor at age 12?
(you’re hoping!) I actually love cleaning, and vacumming etc. Mostly because I love how it looks and smells after. That gives me joy even when during it, I may not love it!
I wish I loved cleaning! Yes, it’s wishful thinking that my kids might like it better than I do.
If she still likes it by the time she’s 5, you’ll probably be lucky! I don’t enjoying cleaning. I enjoy doing outdoor work and will strive to find some of that so can convince myself I’m too busy to clean inside. However, I do like things to be clean. I would like to be able to afford to have someone come in to clean.
Ha! If she likes it by next week, I’ll probably be lucky.
I would also love to pay someone to clean the house. We had a couple people come in once when we were refinancing our house, and it was so great. I actually cleaned with them for three hours, and I could not believe how much we got done!
I’m not sure if I think that any household chores are fun, but I do enjoy a clean house. It usually takes me a day or two to get everything done, I start with a couple rooms one day and the others the next. One thing that I do dread is dusting, It seems like I’m always doing it, yet I find clumps of dust in places all the time! Is there ever a really effective way to dust!!? I would like to know if there is a way I can trick myself to like dusting!
Also, to answer your last question, I hope that is possible for you but I know that I didn’t like scrubbing the floor at that age!
I feel like I always need to dust, too. Actually, that’s a chore that I remember enjoying as a kid. I think I liked the way the Pledge smelled.
I love to shovel. It’s an outdoor chore. Except last winter when it snowed every.single.day, I kind of got sick of it.
Shoveling is a great workout. I don’t mind it, but that’s one of Josh’s chores around here. Yes, last year got a little excessive, didn’t it?
For sure. I hope we don’t end up that way this year!
I love your story about scrubbing the floor–you actually make it sound fun! I remember when my yoga teacher started serving hot chai after class in her house and how she was worried about how she would do it with class after class coming through and how would they clean the tea cups, etc. Then she said that it was really therapeutic washing all the tea cups with sudsy water after class…now of course, she’s much too famous to serve tea herself and it’s $5 to buy it in the cafe …but way back when, it was amazing! Long story short, I enjoy cleaning up the garden, it really makes me happy.
xo Mary Jo
Wow…I want to take yoga from her!
Ha, my girls love cleaning the floor too! And the similar but slightly less slippery — “Washing the walls”. I give them a spray bottle of water/vinegar & few drops dish soap, a couple different rags, sponges and scrubbers, and let them go to down with the walls, cupboards and doors in our kitchen. It actually helps! My 5.5 year old is still pretty interested in helping, though she does have to be in the mood.
I need to get a better outlook (and schedule) for getting household chores done. My house is always a wreck these days! I’d rather read blogs!
I love the idea of washing the walls! I’m sure Linnea would love to have a spray bottle for this purpose. You always have the best ideas for doing things with kiddos!